Charles m



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES M. HIGGINS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

INK.

PEGIFIC'A'lION forming part of Letters Patent No. 483,447, datedSeptember 27, 1892.

Application filed February 19 1892. Serial No. 422,119. (No specimens.)Patented in England January 2, 1892, No. 93; in France January 6, 1892,No. 218,495, and in Belgium January 7,1892,No. 97,830-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. HIGGINS, a citizen of the United States,residing in Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Inks, (for which I have obtained LettersPatent of 1 Great Britain, dated January 2, 1892, No. 93;

. similar or analogous uses where a long-lasting or non-drying ink isrequired.

The problem of my invention is to provide an ink having a true oilyvehicle, yet holding in perfect solution a dense coloring-matter solublein water, such as the aniline colors, so that such ink when used on theinking device, Whether pad, ribbon, or roller, will be practicallynon-drying thereon and not susceptible to atmospheric moisture and yetwhen printed on the paper will not smut on contact with the fingers, asis the case with the glycerine inks, and, notwithstanding thesemoisture-resisting qualities, will yet give a good press-copy whensubjected to the copyingpress.

To this end my invention consists, essentially, in the combination ofcarbolic acid or an equivalent phenol with some fixed or nearly fixedoil or fat, preferably castor-oil or oil of cassia, or both, ashereinafter fully set forth.

I have discovered that castor-oil is a peculiar exception among thefixed oils in having no action whatever upon soft or hard rubber,whereas all the other fixed vegetable or animal oils attack itvigorously. I have also discovered that oil of cassia or cinnamon-barkis alike exception among the essential oils in having no perceptibleaction on rubber, whereas the other spice-oils-such as that of cloves,allspice, and even cinnamon-leaflettack the rubber energetically.Carbolic acid and its substitute, creosote, while readily soluble in andinixable with oils and fats, has, I find, likewise no action upon rubberand is a great solvent for the aniline colors, and hence when added to afixed oil it greatly promotes the solution of the coloring-n1atter insuch oil, which without it would hold little or none of thecoloring-matter, whereas the fixed oil, on the other hand, completelycounteracts or neutralizes the highly-volatile character of the carbolicacid and prevents it from drying up and causing the ink to harden, aswould soon occur if carbolic acid or a strictlyvolatile oil aloneconstituted the vehicle and solvent of the ink.

The carbolic acid or creosote has another Very important function inthis compound besides increasing the solution of the coloringmatter inthe vehicleviz., that of greatly improving the copying qualities of theink, as an ink composed of coloring-matter dissolved in carbolic acidand a fixed or nearly fixed oil will give a very quick and strongpress-copy and yet will not be susceptible to atmospheric moisture whenon the inking device, nor will it be subjectto smutting or offsettingwhen printed, as is the case with glycerine inks. On the contrary, myimproved ink appears to dry or set immediately by absortion in the paperwhen printed, yet is entirely non-drying in a mass or film on theprinting device, which are the most important qualities heretoforesought for in this class of inks.

The oil of cassia and the other spice-oils, while technically volatile,as is well known, are the least volatile of the series and may beregarded as practically fixed for the reason that in a mass or film theydo not dry and are all great solvents for aniline colors, as set forthin my former United States Patent, No. 437,781, of October 7, 1890. Anink made, however, with a spice-oil alone would not give as good or asquick a press-copy as one made with the addition of carbolic acid orcreosote, which is the main feature of my present improvement.Furthermore, an ink made with spice-oil and carbolic acid as the solevehicles would be quite expensive, where as by the addition ofcastor-oil the vehicle is greatly cheapened without its solvent powerbeing much, if any, impaired, and its nondrying quality is improved,which isanother important feature of my present invention. Hence for allpurposes where a very dense solution of coloring-matter is not requiredI prefer to use a large proportion of caster-oil with a small proportionof carbolic acid and oil of cassia, which mixture is particularlyadapted for rubber stamps, as none of these ingredients has any actionon rubber and yet formsa comparatively-cheap vehicle and solvent, fullyas cheap and efficient as the generally-used glycerine, and at the sametime far superior to it in being waterproof and nonsmutting, which is aquality which has been very much desiredin stamping-inks. Wherea muchstronger solution is required-such as in copying-inks for type-writersor similar uses-only a small proportion of the castoroil may be used anda larger proportion of the oil of cassia or other highly-solvent oilwith the carbolic acid or creosote, or for this purpose the caster-oilmay be omitted altogether and any fixed or nearly fixed and solvcut oilor fatmaybe used in connection with the carbolic acid, preferably oil ofcassia or some other of the spice-oils. I therefore do not confinemyself to any fixed proportion of the coloring-matter, the fixed oil,and the carbolic acid or creosote, as these may vary considerably,according to the different purposes required, and hence I will giveseveral practical yet varying formulas for different purposes. Forexample, for an ink for rubber or other stamps I take, say, four fluidounces of castor-oil and add to this one fluid ounce each of carbolicacid and oil of cassia, and when these are thoroughly mixed together Idissolve in the same one ounce, avoirdupois, of methyl-violet, greencrystals, or other coloring-matter, according to the color desired. Thisvehicle will dissolve most of the aniline colors cold, assisted bysimple stirring or agitation; but it may be heated, if desired, to makethe solution quicker. Vhere a stronger solution is desired-such as fortype-writing ink-the proportions may be varied as follows: four ouncesof castor-oil, two ounces of oil of cassia, two ounces of carbolic-acid,and two to four ounces of methyl-violet or other aniline color,according to the density of solution required. Where very strong coloredsolutions are desired, it will be best to mix the carbolic acid and theoil of cassia or its equivalent together and then add and dissolve theaniline color therein, and when the solution is complete then slowly addand stir in the castor-oil, which will combine and mix perfectly,whereas almost any other of the fixed oils would precipitate the color.

I prefer to use the carbolic acid in the pure or crystal form, whichwill readily melt and dissolve in the oils; but other phenols maybeused, and if creosote is used as a substitute I prefer to use the truepure white quality, free from water, which will readily mix with theoils without any separation or deposit. Oreosote will give nearly thesame effect as the carbolic acid; but I prefer to use the crystallinecarbolic acid.

My improved ink may also be used as a copyable printing-ink for use inordinary presswork, and also for coloring leather or other fabrics, orany similar purposes for which it may be found suitable.

I am aware that it has been proposed to combine dilute carbolic acidwith printers ink; but an ink made of this material is not an equivalentfor my ink, as a drying-oil is an essential feature in printersink,'whilein my compound a non-drying oil is used. Another importantdifference is that I use pure or crystal carbolic acid, while what isknown as dilute acid, such as has been heretofore used, would not mixwith my solvent oils at all.

In the following claims Where I use the words carbolic acid I mean to beunderstood as referring to any equivalent therefor, such as creosote,and by the addition of the word pure before carbolic acid I mean to beunderstood as referring to carbolic acid in an undiluted state.

WVhat I claim as my invention is- 1. A printing or stamping ink composedof a substantially-fixed oil or fat combined with pure carbolic acid anda coloring-matter, substantially as herein set forth.

2. A printing or stamping ink composed of pure carbolic acid combinedwith a fixed or nearly fixed oil and an aniline color dissolved therein,substantially as herein set forth.

3. Aprinting or stamping ink composed of carbolic acid, castor-oil, anda coloring-matter, substantially as herein specified.

4. A vehicle for oily inks, consisting of castor-oil, an essential oil,and carbolic acid, substantially as herein set forth.

5. A vehicle for oily inks, consisting of castor-oil, oil of cassia, andcarbolic acid, substantially as herein specified.

6. A printing or stampingink composed of caster-oil, oil of cassia,carbolic acid, and an aniline color dissolved therein, substantially asherein set forth.

Dated this 30th day of December, 1891.

CHAS. M. HIGGINS.

Witnesses:

J NO. E. GAVIN, HENRIETTA H. NIooLAI.

